Joemomma

Hi all, Well, those Bosley haters are going to eat this one up! I have had a sore spot on the back of my head, behind my right ear for a few weeks. I am about 5 weeks post op of a 2700+ procedure (donor area was 32cm). I didn't handle the stitch removal particularly well (passed out twice) and I know the tech was anxious to get RID of me! He had to stop several times removing the stitches and I know he was doing his absolute best, I do not fault him. My hair is the same color as the thread of the stitches. Anyway, I was feeling around this very sore spot and I felt what was almost like a scab. No way would I have a scab on the donor area this far out, and as I felt around, sure enough there is still a nub of stitch coming out. I think I have found where it comes back out but not 100% sure... So here's my question...do I just grab at it and pull or do I call them and go see a doctor? If I screw it up and break the nub that is sticking out off then I am really screwed. If I do go see the Bosley folks, it is about a 3 hour round trip, given traffic. I could go see my GP Doctor, I suppose. Thoughts? Could use the advice folks. Thanks, Joe

You'll be good to in a week, no problem. I had to pull my furnace apart 10 days into things...I could hang with that, you can do work no sweat. I was still really sore and got drained quickly but that was mostly from lack of quality sleep. Hard to sleep sitting up, etc. Here are some pics of my 1 month out appearance. Most of the little hairs of course have fallen out, despite my request to them to stay. I even offered to take them out for a hamburger. Alas, they opted for the drain... eh, whatever I think I can definitely see some shock loss of my native hair in these shots. Looks much thinner to me than back a few weeks ago. Hopefully that will come on down again. Joe

Actually about a month post op now and seeing amazing growth results for this amount of time! I have been getting the pimple/bumps and then the next day a little hair. I probably have 200 little hairs growing in around the widows peak area. Yay! Come on little guys, I just made my first payment...your turn to come on out and play. Pain is almost a distant memory at this point. I still have a fair amount of numbness on one side of the donor scar (top of my head is less sensitive to touch, temperature) and I feel like I am wearing a headband around that area if I rest my head against something. That is fading. My incision scar is pretty good sized, width wise too. No wonder the darn thing hurt! Good luck to you with pain management. Just lay low for a while, and REALLY do it. Don't get all worked up sitting around and then try and fix stuff, clean the house, etc. I really did overdo things right after the procedure. I should have taken a few weeks and not done anything. I was just getting antsy and I think now it made things worse. Will post some 1 month pics this weekend (hopefully). I have not had my helmet back on either since this was done...last track day was the weekend before my surgery in December. It will be interesting to see how that goes! Joe

Hey there! I cannot confirm it is safe or useful to use too much but I can say it hasn't harmed me that I can tell. I actually used a hair dryer most of the time to kind of style with the foam. Sounds stupid I know but it did seem to add some body to my hair. The only other style product I use is Crew Fiber around the sides (non thinning area) to hold it in place. RARELY do I use anything on top. I have been interested in seeing if the absorption is more effective on wet or dry hair, and also the link to ED as a possible side effect. Seems in my research it is actually being used as and AID for ED sufferers. Interesting how the Internet can have straight up OPPOSITE reviews. Stuff all still does its job here. More nervous than anything else (that is why I am not taking Propecia....scared to death of it). Good luck WB, your hair is coming in nicely from your pics man! You'll have it blowing in the wind with the windows down soon! Joe

I don't want to get your hopes up but that is exactly what I saw happen to me. I was pleased as it took about four months before they started to come in my natural hair color and thickness (the individual hairs, not the hairline!). Good luck growing man, I know it helped me. I just posted some pics here of before and after a year on the foam. Hope you see similar results! Joe

Hi all, I have had some questions as to the effectiveness of Rogaine. I feel absolutely blessed that I had the response to it that I did and I found two (albeit bad) pics that show before and after. The hair in the pictures is basically the same haircut, roughly one year apart. The first shows a very high degree of thinning and miniaturization of hairs. There was very little left on "hair island" in the middle. I never completely lost it but it was going, going and about to be gone. I applied 5% foam twice a day on damp hair both times (most days) and I applied more than the suggested teatment of half a cap. I go through a bottle about 22 days, versus the 30 they suggest. You can do the math on how much more. My theory was that if it can cause unwanted hair to grow when it touches other skin, maybe it can make WANTED hair grow on my shiny head. As you can see it did work for me. Now I understand what happened to me is not normal, nor should you expect that to happen. I just saw these two pics and REALLY can tell the difference. While I didn't exactly look 20 again, I had much more of a defined hairline, I was out this summer with much less concern of sunburn in a few minutes without a hat and a considerable measure of self confidence. The hair that is there as a result of Rogaine is thick and healthy and I have a ton more miniature hairs than I ever had before using it. The spot in the back, eh, its a little smaller. Just got 2747 HT grafts done about 2.5 weeks ago, so the combination HOPEFULLY will get me some good looking hair! We shall see on that. Just wanted to share the results. Obviously I am going to keep up Rogaine. It's not that expensive and it seems to be working! The results pic is from July, I have seen some density growth since then. Funny enough, although it is thin on top in my pre-op pics, it is AMAZING compared to what I had before! Joe

Wondering about that...some of you all have had to get redone what you had worked over....how does that work when you have a guarantee that it will grow? I am not sure I understand. If you have a money back guarantee per hair and they don't grow you get your money back. Not sure I see where that doesn't work. What did you have to have undone? I do hear that on this forum and am unsure what that means. I ended up at 4.35 per graft. Not bad and I didn't have to travel, take off from work, etc. That was very competitive for the DC metro region; I priced several locations. As it was I was able to only miss two days of work and slept (if you call it that) in my own bed that night. My issue was a fearful one; known entitiy versus unknown. You guys got bigger cahones than I do... Joe

Valid points! Worth mentioning both details... Post operative pain from the strip area. The actual grafts were not bad at all! I didn't hurt at all from them, although I did a big-old caveman swelled forehead for about three days afterward. The pain was bad enough I could not sleep, I could not really eat, couldn't go back to work three days later. I actually got motion sick riding in a car...mind you my job is teaching racing. I am in a car at speed most of the time...I rode in a minivan to Target and literally was nauseous. As for density, I don't expect to look like Brad Pitt. I simply wanted to rebuild the lines where I feel they needed it most. It actually looked far more dense in person than a camera would have you think. The doctor even commented that it should be sufficient to give the look of density. I know it won't be dense, not like some of you guys have. I have simply been amazed by the effort and care put into some of your stories. Simply amazing. Doc explained it to me that you really don't even notice thinning until about 50% of your natural hair is gone. In that case, you only need 50% coverage to get back to where you can't tell. Go figure that one! Ironically, I am 6' tall and most people didn't even notice I was as far bald as I was. Now in hindsight I would have opted for a solid 3000 but we rarely choose the lessons we learn. The hair I do have is healthy and it is relatively short. It could be the case that I am interested in FUE in the future but strip method for me is probably out in my future. Just too painful. I cannot take codeine without getting sick and I was too scared to take codone and have a similar reaction. The most I had for pain was 3 Advil at a time. Needless to say that sucked. My biggest concern was not looking "pluggy". If my next photograph doesn't have a shiny spot on my head, I'll be pretty dang happy! Oh, for cost, I got it for under 4.50 a graft. Some places charge more once you cross the 2000 threshold in one session. They didn't and I ended up getting 147 "on the house" as they had the extra. Not a bad deal and a big savings...its that $451 a month for two years that sucks... Joe

Good point, and well taken about doing your diligence online. I simply would not have undergone the procedure if I had known just exactly how much discomfort it would have been. I had not been prepared for a 32cm incision. My journey started with paying off a nasty divorce, the car and finally having some money. I called the Bosley number a year ago and got the book. Sat on it, saw some results in person from other local doctors and was frankly unimpressed. Again, just my opinion but I think they looked like plugs. Went for a consultation right before Thanksgiving when they sent their "best price ever" brochure to me. With the price I could afford in mind I went in, no idea what work needed to be done. Again, if I had known the price I would not have done it. For me ignorance was bliss as I would have justified this as unnecessary and not done it. As it was I liked the results I saw on the salesperson and the pictures they had. Knowing I could not afford it I left. In the coming weeks I then analyzed whether I could or could not afford it. I was undecided about how much work I wanted all the way until the moments before I went into the procedure. I decided I could afford it, I just didn't want to spend that much. Sooo glad I did... You do need a doctor that you like the results of. I just liked the financing options, the results I had seen, etc. If I had read too much on it I think I could have said "this is frivolous" and passed it off like any other big purchase. My moral was don't think, just do. Not for everybody I suppose! Joe

Well it's been two weeks and I must say I think I am looking dapper! The redness has died down substantially and I actually think the hairs in the front are growing. Now, I know that is not common but maybe, just maybe, a few will stay? I have been shedding like a Husky in summertime! Heard from my sales consultant at Bosley yesterday. Brandon was just calling to follow up with me, see how it all was going, etc. I cannot speak highly enough about this team. I know it may be a franchise operation but I can say I felt supported the ENTIRE way by this team. Two days after the operation I freaked out and called the emergency number. I had MY doctor, not some random person, on the phone in less than 5 minutes. Made me feel GREAT that they did that for me. Free financing, good early results, good communication (from the secretaries to the doctor to the sales team), nice facility; I could not be happier so far. Anyway, hope you all have a nice Christmas. I actually went and got half a haircut yesterday. Just cleaned up around the edges, trimmed the sideburns and tried to blend in some on the sides. Better than nothing! I feel I will be presentable for Christmas pictures at least! Joe

Day 10: Sort of a big day in my world..met the new gal's friends today. Super cool, all but one who I caught repeatedly looking at my chia-head. DO NOT plan graft surgery and then plan a big social event in the next two weeks afterwards. I found out that blue Copper Peptide spray and yellow-ish Rogaine really do mix just like in art class and give you a lovely green sheen to the top of your almost-not-shiny noggin. I luckily figured that one out a day ago and ditched the peptide spray (on schedule, I just had some left). Still washing carefully but no more cup, as per the directions. I will say that Bosley may get a bad rap on things for the docs but the program seems very solid and well-timed. I didn't think a week ago I would EVER stop hurting and I actually did a light workout yesterday. Low weights but high reps, a 4.3 mile and hour walk for 30 mins on the treadmill and just felt like a million bucks. I am much less self conscious about it and the pain that was an 8 out of 10 last Saturday morning is more like a 2 or a 1.5 today. Little itchy and everytime I wash my hair I get a lot of scabs off. To be expected I think. So far I am pleased with the results. I have seen some regular hairs falling out, I think from the trauma of it all and week Rogaine-less. We shall see.... Here's a pic. For what it's worth, keep the witty banter flowing and then once you have a sufficient in with the conversation, drop the "I just had surgery" talk and explain away the fact you look peculiar. Worked for me... Joe

I'm right there with you buddy. 10 days out and I get little round crusty things flying off! I have my sutures removed tomorrow and I will ask for sure but from what I understand this is the norm. We are where we are supposed to be. Heck, I even hit a light workout yesterday! Good luck man, keep us posted as you grow! Joe

Thanks for the well wishes! I am actually feeling some better. Neck is still stiff but to people that read this in the future....I did the ENTIRE post procedure period with JUST Advil. Yes it sucked but it was manageable. No codine, etc. or percoset. It usually makes my stomach a wreck so I tried to avoid at all costs. I did use Lunesta (1.5mg each night) first two nights to sleep. Had a setback when my furnace went out the other night..had to dig into that bad boy, head full of stitches and all. Sucked but I was as careful not to bump my noggin as I could be. After a few Advil (and a few oz.s of Reposado..I know booze is a no no) the headache subsided. Here is a week out. I actually went out to Starbucks today on my break at work, went to Karaoke last night AND had a date with a new lady pal. No kidding. It is like a normal life, other than the fact I look vaguely like a Chia Pet for the time being! I am glad to hear I am not alone on the Bosley thing. Free financing, good results from the EXACT doctor that I saw and a very helpful and supportive during-op team made the difference for me. The number of grafts I had done (still not a billion but 2747 ain't a cakewalk) at other doctors would make it a mega-session and they would have charged me more. As it was, Bosley charged me the same per-graft price we negotiated at 2000 grafts, even at 2500 (Bosley charges like $840 for additional lab, meds, shampoo, sprays, etc. stuff and that also includes 100 additional grafts. I ended up getting 147 for free, as they weren't going to throw useful bits of ME away! Hopefully!). If you are thinking about doing it, might I suggest::::: DON'T read a billion pages online. I don't think I would have done what I did had I read up quite so intensely. Just find someone that does the kind of work you hope to have done, be reasonable in your expectations and get as many flippin grafts as you can possibly afford, even if it is a BIG stretch. If you can afford 1500, you can afford 2000. As it was for me, I decided on 2000 and stretched to 2500. SO incredibly glad I did. Felt good to use Rogaine foam again today. Ok, the truth is it was just nice to touch my head. I have been treating it so gingerly even with the cup washing method, felt good to rub in the foam! Joe

I took a few Advil, it is a bit better now. Just worried I pushed the grafts out or something. I didn't lift more than 35 pounds and it was all down really low. What a pain in the rear. Of ALL the days to have a blower motor crap out...geesh. Got my heat working, got some dinner and some advil. I haven't taken the percoset, a little afraid of the side effects. I'd rather have some discomfort just as long as I didn't do something horrible to the grafts or the donor area, you know? I will be soooo glad when it doesn't feel like I am wearing a balloon over my head! Thanks all, Joe

And its below freezing. I fixed the heater but my head is frickin killing me. I am not bleeding but I feel a constant thud in my head. Do I need to worry or just lay low and get some advil? Any experience or advice would be greatly appreciated. Joe...in a good bit of pain right now...